Running Times interview with Chris McDougall

I picked it up at our local (closing) Borders at half price, which was more than if you order on Amazon.com (FYI) last week because I couldn’t wait for it to arrive.

While it’s an intriguing running tale it’s also a lesson in anthropology, history, culture and science.

I’m about halfway through and if I could do nothing but run and read this book for the next few days I wouldn’t be writing this now.

So, Brian Metzler from Running Times interviewed Chris McDougall about his book, book tour, newly released paperback addition, movie deal and the upcoming Naked Tour 2011.

Here’s a few snippets of the interview, you can read the entire piece here.

On the minimalist and barefoot running revelution:

Running Times: A lot of people — including running shop owners and those who work for major shoe brands — consider you one of the catalysts to the sea change in running shoes, almost like the godfather of minimalism.

Chris McDougall: It’s funny, I almost cut that chapter out of the book because I thought, “Everybody already knows this stuff.” …All I was really doing was gathering stuff that had already been out there. But what concerns me now is that everything seems to be about a different kind of shoe, and it should really be about a different kind of running.

On The Naked Tour:

RT: So now you’re launching The Naked Tour. Is that some kind of a vaudeville show?

CM: It’s based on a cabaret event we did in New York last November a couple of days before the marathon.

…It was way beyond my wildest expectations.

…To me the showstopper was Brandon Wood, who is a professional opera singer and Ironman triathlete. He converted passages of the book into an aria, and that just rocked the joint.

On the movie and Jake Gyllenhaal sighting:

RT: You were spotted at last summer’s Leadville 100 in Colorado with Jake Gyllenhaal, who is rumored, along with Sarsgaard, to be the talent in the movie adaptation of the book. What can you tell us about that?

CM: It looks like it’s happening. I was in New York with Sarsgaard and Marshall Lewy, who is writing the screenplay, and they already had a pretty polished draft about two months ago. There’s a producer, a director and a script, so I think the next step was to lock it in with a studio.

Running Times also asks Chris about a rumored book in the works. Chris doesn’t give much away, not wanting to jinx his luck. He does say it’s probably coming out in 2013 and will be modeled after Born to Run only on a different topic.

Armchair anthros like me – be sure to stay tuned. If this next adventure is anything like Born to Run we’ll be in for another treat.